


The Depths of a Sea

by Peony_Bones5658



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson Fluff, Camp Fusion, Childhood Trauma, F/M, Fuck Gabe, Gabe Ugliano Being an Asshole, Hurt Percy Jackson, Not Canon Compliant, Past Rape/Non-con, Post-Tartarus (Percy Jackson), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rape/Non-con Elements, Traumatised Percy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-30 01:53:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19843123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peony_Bones5658/pseuds/Peony_Bones5658
Summary: Nothing could ever make Percy forget, not even Tartarus itself. The things Gabe had done, will forever be etched in his skin. Annabeth knows something is going on when Percy keeps avoiding her advances, but is okay when he is the one who initiates. She didn't expect the truth to be much more than. And much more horrible.





	The Depths of a Sea

~~~~Percy is what people would call an open book, he'd tell anyone just about anything. There's not much to know, other than he's the son of a God, _the Poseidon,_ he's a demigod, his friends are also the sons and daughters of Ancient Gods and Goddesses and he'd survived Tartarus.

He's always been one to persevere, no matter what, he'll always stand back up again and fight. But what others don't know is, sometimes there are things you want to fight, but it's a losing fight, because you can't tackle or stab it, it stays there, and you can only lock it up for so long before it comes back to remind you, and it breaks you again and again and when everything is just too much, nothing comes. Just a sickening silence and a silent plea for help.

  
It happens when he's in training with Jason. They're exchanging blows and the clang of the swords are a constant noise in the arena. Jason swings at his head, Percy ducks and tries to swipe his feet but Jason is fast and jumps away. Percy likes swordfighting, he's good at it and it keeps his mind from straying. They go at it for a few minutes and try to outwit the other, until Jason manages to flip him and pin him down.

  
"Hah, I win!" Jason says, grinning wide.

  
Any other day, Percy would've just laugh it off and they'll be done, but he feels suffocated being underneath and there's the constant warning voice of himself to run, run and never look back. He's got him trapped, and Percy can't get away. His heart is beating erratically, and he wants to scream, but the sane part of him knows it's just Jason, he's safe.

  
"Jason, Jason get off me, please."

  
The blond does and he looks at Percy with furrowed brows.

"Hey bro, you alright?"

  
Percy smiles, tries to give his biggest one. "Yeah, sorry you were just too heavy bro."

  
"Ah okay." and Jason reproaches the smile, but Jason knows it was more than his weight from Percy's almost desperate and scared plea for him to get off, he doesn't prod, because Percy and Annabeth have been through Tartarus, and that alone is a nightmare enough.

* * *

It's nighttime and they're all huddled up around the campfire. Percy is with his friends and it's just so easy to forget how fast time goes by he's having a blast.

  
Until all the sudden he doesn't, his heart plummets when one of the campers smack him on the back and compliments him, but he doesn't hear it over all the other hands all over him, he feels disgusted, because he's reminded again, just how much his body has been explored.

  
Annabeth was just coming up to him, she catches a glimpse of fear in his face before he smooths it over and smiles.

He's been doing it a lot, she knows because everytime she tries to touch him he looks like someone just murdered a dog in front him, and it always last for only a second before he just smiles. Annabeth's been trying to give him a hug for weeks now, but he always wants to wrap his arms around her first before she can and it's somewhat unfair. She thinks that maybe it's got to do with pride, for men to initiate the contact first but or maybe he just isn't the type for sudden body contact, but Annabeth has seen multiple times how he and his mother have hugged and thought maybe it's only for his mom, like a special gesture, and she feels a bit sad at that.

Percy has told her plenty of times that he likes hugging her, but why does he avoid it like the plague unless he does it first, that isn't something she could figure. Maybe it's because of his reflex, because they've been wrapped by monsters numerous times he's grown to be wary.

When she comes over, Percy scoops her to his side, smiling contently and she forgets to ask of anything.

* * *

  
It's one of those dreams again, the vivid ones, he's been getting them often. It's always about his stepfather. The same old smell of booze and his sneer. He's chasing Percy and then the scene changes to his being tossed in a bed. He's struggling, trying to stop the hands from reaching him, and then there's the sounds he'd never forget and he's screaming. The man saying such sickening words to him.

"Good bitch."

  
Percy wakes with a startled whimper, gripping the sheets tight and trembling. He curls into himself and sobs quietly. He feels disgusted, he remembers himself moaning, and Gabe telling him how much he likes it. He doesn't, he doesn't and will ever like something like that.

He rewinds the memory, unable to stop. There he was, age seven, running from an angry and very much drunk Gabe. And then being tossed to the bed, Gabe doing such terrible things to him. It's such a fucked up memory, he remembers thinking how nice Gabe was to him, complimenting and caressing him, calling him sweet names. It was the only time he'd ever shown something more than insults, but Percy also knows something's wrong, when the man keeps ramming him and calling him by his mother's name, his screams silenced by a tongue and he wants to vomit but Gabe threatens to hit him and he whimpers and sobs, like the useless being he is, he takes everything in, even the fluids and Percy cries harder and harder until he can't breathe.

* * *

The rest are beginning to catch on to Percy's behaviour, he's more jumpy and easily startled. He doesn't even want to stay and talk, just goes out to the river or spends his time inside his cabin doing Gods knows what.

  
"What's wrong with Prissy?"

  
The rest of them are hanging out outside when Clarisse shows up. Annabeth looks at her.

  
"What's wrong?" and she begins to stand in case he got hurt or fought anyone, Piper and Hazel already mirroring her.

  
Clarisse looks conflicted. "He's...well he's weird, weirder than usual."

"Weirder how? Details lady." Leo ask.

  
So Clarisse tells them how he's been acting around everyone, that even the other campers are starting to notice. He's been avoiding contact and talking without meeting anyone's eyes, glancing let and right and bolting before a conversation ends.

  
It worries the others but they don't know how to approach and ask because last time Leo had directly asked, Percy just shrugs and looks at him like he's the weird one. He's avoiding to answer and as much as they want to know, they know better than to piss Percy off. All of them thought it had something to do with Tartarus, even Annabeth because she was there and she knows how much it scarred her.

  
Percy, like the sea, had depths too, and while many see him as the clear sea surface, Annabeth knows better than to conform him as only that. Maybe right now he's rock bottom, and she wants to know how to bring him back up.

  
Percy isn't actually in the deepest of the waters, he's under, buried under the sands down below, his deepest darkest secret even Tartarus can't win over. He knows he can tell his friends almost anything, but not this. This is his alone. He knows that it isn't his fault, he was a kid, Gabe was an adult, but often he finds himself thinking if he had hid better or hit harder, maybe it wouldn't have happened, maybe it is entirely his fault and he hates himself for thinking of it, but Percy is angry and confused on who to blame. Gabe had woken up the next day not remembering anything and leaving the memory to Percy alone, who in a twisted way of thinking thought that maybe that was the only way he could get affection from the adult, by being a good little bitch and spreading his legs.

  
Percy remembers limping and when his mother ask, in shame of what has been done to him, he lies and says he sprained his ankle. He remembers everything, in such clear detail that he hates himself, wants to burn his skin away. Claw out his eyes for the way Gabe looked at him, cut his tongue for letting out sounds or maybe just going back to Tartarus and welcoming all the monster to tear him limb by limb. Instead of doing anything he's crying every night and praying to his dad to wipe his memory, and then greeted with nothing but the sound of his own cries.

* * *

  
Sometimes when he's at the river, Annabeth comes by and sits beside him. He loves her so much and is very content with being by her side for a long as he can without it feeling like drowning. He tries so hard to focus and remember her touches as Annabeth, but then he remembers again and again and pulls away, leaving a confused and morose Annabeth alone in the river. He doesn't like hurting her, but he's selfish and still wants her, unable to let her go.

  
It's ironic how the son of the sea is drowning, constantly gasping for air each night from being woken by hands that grip and molest. Greeted by silence each night and without anyone to tell him, it wasn't his fault. Nobody can because nobody knows, not even the rapist. He's the only one who does.

* * *

  
He's gotten good at hiding it, now nobody thinks of it. It's not okay, he wants to say but maybe if he thinks hard enough it'll be. It always goes away and everything will be back to it was before, he'll be able to spend more time and make Annabeth happy. Fake it till you make it.

Why on earth would he believe that he doesn't know, because this night when he sleeps, it's the worse yet. He's at the bed and he's trying to get Gabe's hand off him, and then he does, this time he runs away, and he felt so free and ends up at Camp Half-Blood, his friends are all there, but they're all looking at him with degrees of scorn and disgust. Worse of all, Annabeth doesn't even look his way, she's next to Luke somehow and the both of them turn their backs to him. He's being pushed back by something and then he falls, back to the bed, and Gabe is crawling up to him with lust filled eyes.

  
He wakes up screaming at the top of his lungs, thrashing and kicking air. He's filled with so much fear he doesn't process the sounds out of his cabin or the slow swirl of a storm forming outside. There's murmurs and then voices he can't fully process saying things out loud, then shouting and there's footsteps and then banging on his door. Percy doesn't stop screaming, because all he really is aware is that Gabe is going to do it all over again, and he can't do anything because he's just useless.

  
Then his door is broken down, and people are rushing inside. Someone touches his leg and he screams even louder because maybe this is real and Gabe is actually going to fuck him again, he scrambles away chanting no's and shaking his head frantically, one hand raised to ward off whoever it is.

  
"Percy? Percy it's me!" a girl's voice shouts to him, but he isn't completely awake to understand what she meant or who she is, his heart is beating too fast it feels like it's going to burst.

  
"Hey Percy, bro, it's us. Just us, please snap out of it." and then a hand tries to holds his and he swats it away only for more hands to try and tie him down and this makes him hysterical, his scream becoming more harrowing and he's begging, pleading and telling them he doesn't want to.

  
The storm grows stronger and spins faster outside and there's another girl's voice desperately telling them to knock him out and another counters, they're shouting at each other. Percy keeps struggling, his legs kicking the bed and hands flying everywhere. When they finally pin him, in an adrenaline filled fit of fear, he fights against them and they're all knocked down, he doesn't think anymore, just wants everything washed away and slowly the cabin begins to be filled with water, screams and more shouting come.

  
The water recedes all the sudden and then more footsteps come his way.

  
"Percy, calm down!"

  
He finds himself involuntarily listening and slowly takes in his surroundings, it's all blurry and he blinks only to realise he's been crying, his cabin is drenched, his friends are too, and his father is also miraculously there, everyone is looking at him in either shock or worry.

  
"Percy?"

  
When Percy look towards the voice it's Annabeth, drenched and eyes red rimmed, trembling and trying to reach out, he flinches and she retracts.

  
"It-it's me, Annabeth. It's me." she says softly to him.

  
Percy doesn't know what he's suppose to do, he just stares at her, and takes in everything he's done, he nearly drowned her and the rest and almost succeeded in destroying the camp by creating a storm all because of a stupid nightmare. He lets out a guilty whimper, hates how he couldn't control the floodgates that come and reaches both his shaky arms toward her, only then realising he was also drenched.

  
Annabeth is there in an instant, wrapping her arms around him, and he hides his face on her shoulder, letting out heart wrenching sobs that has Annabeth breaking inside.

  
"Shh, you're safe now Percy, you're safe." she tells him, trying to believe it herself, hoping that Percy will never have to feel so scared again, praying that he'll be alright.

  
He'll never be, because the things done to him are already engraved in him, a horrible reminder that he won't ever be able to forget. He cries himself to sleep under the embrace of Annabeth, and everything returns to the abyss.

  
He doesn't dream then, he sleeps dreamlessly. The next time he wakes up, the first person he sees isn't Annabeth, instead his father, Poseidon. He blinks and rubs his eyes, thinking he's dreaming and his father chuckles softly.

  
"I'm here." came the deep voice and he smiles sadly at Percy.

  
"Wh-What are you?" he helpfully ask, still confused and not all awake.

  
Poseidon holds his arm when Percy sways and nearly falls, helping him adjust to sit on the edge. He doesn't let go, rubbing soothing circling motions over his skin that has Percy relaxing because this time, the touches don't make him want to pull away, he's touched starved from months of avoiding so much contact and just sighs in content.

  
"I'm sorry." Percy croaks, before an itch makes itself known on his throat that has his coughing.

  
Poseidon furrows his brows. "Percy, you have nothing to be sorry about." he takes the nectar and gives it to his son.

  
"But-"

  
"No, I mean it, nobody is blaming you for the damages."

  
Percy looks at him with inquiring eyes that look so young it makes Poseidon's heart wrench with guilt. He never should've have done what he had, Percy had played the price at such a young age. His face hardens and he clenches his fist, anger boiling at his hate for the mortal that did such a thing to his son.

  
Percy's whimper breaks his rage and he realises he's scared him.

  
"Percy I'm sorry I'm not mad at you, I'm sorry."

  
The demigod nods meekly, still fragile in his mindset and doubting Poseidon.

  
Poseidon vows to have a talk with Hades on Gabe's punishment.

  
They make small talk, the majority is just Poseidon talking and Percy nodding or adding in little bits. Poseidon couldn't relieve Percy's nightmares because he only controls the seas, but he has talked to Morpheus, the God of dreams and made him a deal to lessen the nightmares. He also promised that anyone who means harm to Percy will face his wrath. It doesn't really make him feel better, but hearing that his real father actually cared enough to vow something made him smile.

  
Poseidon returned to Olympus by dispersing into bubbles but his last message was that he loved Percy more than he showed.

  
Percy fell back to the darkness but today it wasn't bad, because this time he dreams of his mother, cooking blue cookies and him by her side, stuffing his mouth. It was such a nice dream he didn't want to wake up, but a voice was calling his name and he slowly opened his eyes.

  
It was Annabeth, last he saw, she was crying and wet, now she's smiling and in dry clothing. Her hair cascading down her shoulders and the sun seeping from behind the open camp made it look ethereal, her silvery eyes holding so much warmth.

  
"Hi sleepyhead." she teases, but Percy notices how raspy her voice is.

  
He smiles and caresses her cheek. He loves Annabeth so much, he hates causing her pain, Gods know how many times he's made her worry. And he opens his mouth to apologise but Annabeth cuts him off.

  
"I know what you're going to say, and no, don't be, don't ever be."

  
He doesn't believe so, but he doesn't say anything.

  
"I'm just glad nothing happened to you."

  
"How long has it been?"

  
Annabeth kisses his forehead, and he falls in love a bit more.

"A day and a half, it's almost lunchtime."

  
They stay like that for a few solid minutes, purely content with hugging and leaving kisses over each others faces. Percy kisses the crown of her head and watches her mouth slowly lift and reveal her teeth, a gorgeous smile gracing her beautiful face.

  
Percy is twirling her hair as she lays in his chest.

  
"Can I ask you?" and Percy doesn't have to ask to know what she means.

  
"Yeah."

  
"Y-you don't have to." she hesitates.

  
He doesn't want to talk about it at all, but this is his girlfriend, someone he's been to Tartarus and back with, someone he loves so much to want to tell her everything. If it's Annabeth, he wants her to know this.

  
"I want to."

  
He tells her about the abuse, how long it's been going and then the intoxicated raping, about having been the only one to keep such a disgusting secret only he knew. He doesn't have to look to know she's crying, his shirt is wet.

  
"Ho-how many times?" and her voice has gone soft and whispery, her body trembles.

  
Percy is crying too, because he's just so tired of having been the only one to know this, and scared because sharing such a secret makes him feel so exposed, but when Annabeth cries along, he knows how much this means to them both. It's a step.

"It happened just...once." and he sobs hard and clings to her because just that one time was enough to break him and Annabeth wraps him. He feels ashamed, scared and angry at himself.

  
Annabeth shushes him, gently leaving kisses and humming softly.

"It's not your fault."

  
The words are all it takes for him to finally feel like a chain broke loose, and he cries harder. It may not heal everything, but to hear someone tell him brings him such relief that he won't ever have to hold it all alone. There are people he could reach out to and they won't shun him, he's safe.

  
He's so tired of having to act strong, so when he crumbles, Annabeth was there to catch him. And he'd do the same for her.

  
They talked about a lot and he'll have to tell his mother whether he'd like to or not, but that was for another time. Annabeth tells him how Nico had his father promise to give Gabe the worse torture of all and how even Clarisse was worried after what happened, even when she acted all tough about it. Jason and Frank were on the verge of tears when they brought him here, Grover and Hazel were bawling and were waiting for him outside, terribly worried. Leo and Piper were fixing his cabin, they had Annabeth relay their message to him which was mostly to ask if he was alright and that it was okay to cry sometimes.

  
He felt the safest he had felt in years, and sighs, happy and calm. Annabeth looks up to him, and smiles.

  
Percy smiles back and hopes the days to come that it'll get better.


End file.
